Umayyad Caliphate

The Umayyad Caliphate was the second Islamic caliphate, ruling from 661 to 750. Founded by Muawiyah I after the murder of Hassan ibn Ali and the fall of his Rashidun Caliphate, the Umayyads ruled over a vast empire from the city of Damascus in Syria, with their empire extending from Pakistan to southern France and Spain. The Umayyads gave autonomy to Jews and Christians in their lands, with their own religious courts handling their affairs, and they could practice their beliefs if they paid the jizya tax; many of the people of non-Muslim Abrahamic faiths would convert to Islam under the Umayyads. The Umayyads constantly campaigned against both the Christian kingdoms of the west, the Tengri and Hindu states to the east, and the Berbers to the south, and they also fought against rebellious officials and nobles. In 750, the Abbasid Revolution toppled the Umayyads, and the Abbasid Caliphate replaced the Umayyads.